The present invention is directed generally to battery jumper cables, and more particularly to battery jumper cable systems which provide protection against inadvertent mis-connection of two batteries.
When the battery of an engine driven vehicle becomes discharged to the point where it provides insufficient current to crank the engine of the vehicle, it is common practice to parallel-connect, or jump, a fully charged donor battery, such as may be present in another engine driven vehicle, to the discharged battery to obtain the requisite cranking power. Jumper cables having heavy gauge conductors fitted with alligatortype clamps at either end are typically utilized for this purpose. When the engine has started, the jumper cable is disconnected and the alternator associated with the engine recharges the depleted battery.
One problem associated with battery jumping operations is maintaining like polarity between the terminals of the interconnected batteries. Should the polarities of the terminals be inadvertently reversed, as by mis-connection of the jumper cable conductors, the batteries are effectively connected in series and short-circuited, so that a heavy current limited only by the resistance of the conductors and the internal impedance of the batteries flows through the batteries and conductors. As a result, the batteries may overheat and explode and the jumper cable may be permanently damaged.
The present invention provides a jumper cable system wherein a signal module is incorporated to warn of a reverse polarity connection. The warning, which may be either audible or visual, or both, is given prior to the batteries being interconnected to preclude any possibility of a short circuit condition.
Accordingly, it is a general object of the present invention to provide a new and improved jumper cable system.
It is a specific object of the present invention to provide a jumper cable system which provides protection against reverse polarity connection of a donor battery and a depleted battery.
It is another specific object of the present invention to provide a jumper cable system which provides an alarm indication upon the conductors thereof being mis-connected to a donor battery or to a depleted battery.